WGNO

How does cold & stormy weather affect crawfish?

JEFFERSON, La.– Bad storms are not only a hassle for drivers, but it makes it more difficult for those in the crawfish business like Frank Caracci & Vinny Quirk at Michael’s Seafood.

“They call us the Super Crawfish Brothers. We like to work as a team. He’s Mario and I’m Luigi because I’m taller obviously,” Vinny said.

Frank says that severe weather and inconsistencies in temperatures are not super conditions for crawfish and that’s a problem.

“Those bad storms last night, well I’ve got news for you, doesn’t help us at all,” Caracci said.

The cooler weather brings out the smaller crawfish because the bigger crawfish go down and bury up.

“You don’t want fog at all. It makes them molt and they become tender and when they become tender they are going to die easier,” Caracci said.

Vinny says as a boiler the weather plays a part because he must adjust the time depending on the size. Sometimes they’ll buy what they call “peelers,” which are smaller in size and they are a significantly lower price.

“It is like cooking a piece of steak. The smaller ones will be faster than the larger ones,” Quirk said.

With the current cooler weather he’s has a mix of medium to smaller crawfish.

Good Friday will be their busiest day of the year. They expect to boil about 3-thousand pounds of crawfish.